First Build - 1/350 USS Laffey

[Timmy C]

Recently, I've found that setting your calipers to the distance between two stanchions on the railing you want to use and then "walking" those calipers along the deck-edge is a fairly easy and painless way to determine how long a piece of railing is needed. This also makes it easy to compensate for any bends you are doing for that railing.

[BillGorm]

Jeroen - Thank you for the diagram. It had occurred to me to try that but the railings are so fragile I had trouble getting a clean "slice" through the PE. Sounds like I was on the right track.

Timmy - That's ... totally logical. LOL. Now I need to get some calipers ... MicroMark maybe?

And a general question as I turn my attention to the forward deckhouse. Does anyone know whether the Laffey had the low "one-bar" railing along the curved front edges? The photos I've found aren't clear enough to prove it either way.

[Gordon Bjorklund]

Great update Bill.

You are off to a fine start with the ladders and railings.

To answer your question:

. What is the purpose of the catwalk connecting the main and aft deckhouses? And why is there no easy way to access the aft deckhouse when walking aft along the catwalk?

The catwalk makes a direct route to the aft deckhouse. You don't have to climb down one and then climb up the other.
You can us a piece of a pe ladder or just it's rungs to make a way to access the aft deckhouse from the catwalk.

Now to answer your question on rigging marerials and bases:

What material do you use for the rigging? Also, what do you use for your bases - I like the sleek clean look they give your models.

The rigging is a combination of streched sprue painted brown and .004 SS wire painted black.

The base that the1945 Benson sits on is by Imex which is not supplied by that company anymore. Trumpeter makes a base #09809 the same size 14.25"x3.5"x3.5".

[BillGorm]

It's been over a month since my last update, but I'm still chipping away at the USS Laffey. The long weekend and hot weather here in New Jersey gave me a good excuse to spend some time in the basement pushing this build over the hill. I've completed the forward deckhouse and the 02 deckhouse above it. Some of the kit parts in this area have great detail, it's a shame Dragon hasn't mastered the art of the "positive fit" the way Tamiya has. I've also added the pilot house, which has more details to come. Finally, I added the forward life raft racks, forward railings, and chocks (a few of which need to be touched up). Here are some photos:











All comments welcome. I'm mostly pleased to this point, but I'm always interested in tips to improve my next build.

[jeroen zuiderduin]

Hey Bill, good to see some progress. I did found out the hard way as well that Dragon's fit is indeed tight, so you should keep that in mind. Anyway, very nice and clean build so far.

Take care!
Jeroen

[Javlin]

She is looking real good thier Bill!I think contrast helps the color issue and will be an asset in the end I think.I will be doing either Trump's Sullivan or the Dragon Livermore here shortly once the U-boat leaves off the desk.Look forward to future installments.Cheers Kevin

[BillGorm]

Jeroen - Thanks for following along. You're ahead of me with your Monssen so I'm eager to see how you tackle the rigging. One question about how you weather your models. I'm familiar with using oil paints to achieve streaking and fading, but what about chipping? Have you ever tried using a sponge to replicate chipped paint? Any idea what color would be underneath the 5-N Navy Blue on hull sides and the red anti-fouling paint beneath the waterline?

Kevin - I hope you're right. I almost threw the model in the garbage when I screwed up my paint mixes, but now I'm thinking it won't look half bad after a flat coat, a wash or two, and some fading and chipping.

[jeroen zuiderduin]

Hi Bill.
Yes, I did use sponge-techniques, but only on 1/35 scale armor and on a LCM, never on 1/350 ships. For the LCM - which is in the gallery - I used a variety of grays and rust colors. You could snoop around in the gallery, there are excellent, excellent 1/350 examples there. Also, Rick E Davis posted some very nice and interesting photos in my Monssen thread.

I'm very curious to your next post!

Jeroen

[MartinJQuinn]

The long weekend and hot weather here in New Jersey gave me a good excuse to spend some time in the basement pushing this build over the hill.

She looks good! Bill, where are you in NJ?

[BillGorm]

Hi Martin - I grew up in Scotch Plains, but live in Lawrenceville now. I commute to New York every day - 1:40 (or more) door-to-door - so modeling gets pushed to the weekend. I joined a local modeling club several years ago but it runs 45% aircraft and 45% armor with the remaining 10% a mix of figures, sci fi, cars, ships, etc. You're in northern NJ, right?

[MartinJQuinn]

I went to high school in Scotch Plains (UC)! I know Lawrenceville - my brother went to Rider.

Yes, I'm up by Paterson. 45 min train ride one way trip to Hoboken each morning. Good thing it I get to read a lot. Have finished 8 books since last Labor Day.

Our local IPMS club was mostly an aircraft club when I joined, but it's much more mixed now - a lot of our members do armor and ships as well. In fact, we have a large ship building contingent in our club.

Keep plugging away - your Laffey really looks good.

[BillGorm]

Martin - I live about two minutes from Rider and I remember UC well (I assume you meant Union Catholic). I dodged the Catholic school bullet and went to Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. Man, what a small world!

Well, I've continued working on my USS Laffey as I find the time and energy. I've stopped trying to follow Ed McDonald's excellent SBS build log for the USS Lansdowne so closely and gone back to the instructions. I was getting too wrapped up in detail I wasn't ready for (and some of which didn't apply to the USS Laffey). Anyway, I've now gotten the stacks, pilot house detail, masts, (more) railings, rear depth charge racks, and smoke generators done. All feedback is appreciated - and pardon the somewhat grainy, blurry photos, I'm still learning how to use my new camera.

And a few questions for anyone who might know:

1) Are there plans available that show the rigging for the destroyers Dragon has covered in 1/350 scale? I've got the USS Gearing in my stash and I'd like to attempt the rigging when I build her. Also, are there any good rigging SBS?
2) What color would have been beneath the 5-N Navy Blue and red anti-fouling paint on the sides of the hull? Grey primer?
3) I'm struggling a bit with my railings. I've been using CA because I didn't have much luck with PVA glue. I had read about using small strips of tape to hold the railings in place while you apply PVA ... but what do folks apply the glue with? I used a micro brush that didn't seem very micro and the glue went all over the place. Ultimately, I decided to deal with CA instead. Is Gator Glue somewhere in the middle in terms of its gripping strength, working time, etc.?

Thanks for any help.

[jeroen zuiderduin]

Hey Bill,

Again, I'm not much help when it comes to answering your questions. I also use CA for the railings, a few tiny drops here and there with a toothpick or needle. After placing the railing, I use diluted white glue (with a small brush) to fill remaining cracks and holes. You can easely remove the excess with a wet brush.

Anyway, I'm glad you decided to continue this build, she looks really good.

Cheers
Jeroen

[moomoon]

Nice ship, good model and pics, thank you to share
To apply CA glue I use tooth pics (but I cut them to have a thinner more pionted tip) or plastic sprue. I try to give the rail the good shape before gluing it, fix it with a bit of CA and then diluted white glue. Masters share their view about this here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37612

[Bill Gormley]

Well, after seven months of stop and go work, the USS Laffey is finally finished. I left off the prop guards because I couldn't get them to bend properly and I left off the rigging because I really needed to move on to something new. This was my first ship model and it came with plenty of "firsts" ... I figured it was fair to leave rigging for the second one.

The kit itself is superb - slightly over engineered, but nicely detailed - and I've already added the USS Gearing to my stash in the expectation that it will be equally good. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend the USS Laffey to a first time ship modeler. Sure, I survived it ... but there probably were easier places to start (e.g. Tamiya's Fletcher).

So here are some final photos. Please take a look and let me know what you think. Next up: Trumpeter's 1/350 Admiral Graf Spee.

[Gordon Bjorklund]

Bill, Well done. You have done a great job on your Laffey kit. I have enjoyed following along with your build.
The prop guards are a real pain to bend. I have not been able to get the kit's guards or the ones in the GMM pe to bend corectly. I usually make them out of plastic strip. The guards that come with the WEM's Fletcher Class pe are a different story, they were a snap to bent into the correct shape and look great.
I wish you the best of luck on your next build.

[LE BOSCO]

HI Bill


superb "first" build you are far from a "rookie"

regards
Nicolas

[robertmelvin]

Bill, great job. Congratulations on a great finish to your first ship!

Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

Well done Bill! Send some photos to the gallery as well!

[Javlin]

Bill that looks most excellant in my eye's Sir I finished my Livermore last week and I would give it 75-80% of what you accomplished and I have been building for years but a/c.